Outbreak investigation: steps 1 - 5

Question 1

what are the first ive steps?

Answer 1

1. prepare for fieldwork
2. confirm existence of outbreak
3. confirm the diagnosis
4. define and identify cases
5. describe and orient the data

Question 2

step 1?

Answer 2

prepare for fieldwork

Question 3

4 aspects of preparing for fieldwork

Answer 3

understand epidemiological factors
decide on the team
organise supplies
organise logistics

Question 4

epidemiological factors include

Answer 4

risk factors, past outbreaks

Question 5

team includes

Answer 5

front line people, behind the scenes people (including data analysers)

Question 6

supplies could include

Answer 6

lab, PPE, phone, computer

Question 7

logistics could include

Answer 7

communication, money, immunisation, transport

Question 8

step two

Answer 8

confirm the existence of an outbreak

Question 9

again an outbreak means

Answer 9

increase in normal levels of disease

Question 10

what is the way that we verify existence?

Answer 10

identifying cases
monitoring cases (surveillance)

Question 11

3 types of surveillance

Answer 11

active
passive
sentinel/targetted

Question 12

define: passive surveillance

Answer 12

waiting for diseased people to access health service

Question 13

define: active surveillence

Answer 13

testing everyon

Question 14

define: sentinel/targetted surveillance

Answer 14

finding people in contact with disease and testing them, and so on

Question 15

could increase in cases be due to regions other than pathogenicity

Answer 15

yes

Question 16

doctor factors leading to “increase” in cases?

Answer 16

new staff in a department
having performance initiatives
increase doctor awareness

Question 17

patient factors?

Answer 17

them being more aware of disease, hence presenting to doctors more

Question 18

systemic and test factors?

Answer 18

change in surveillance and reporting procedures
new case definition
new diagnosis method
false positives

Question 19

step 3?

Answer 19

confirm the diagnosis

Question 20

step 4?

Answer 20

define and identify cases

Question 21

what does a case definition include? factor one

Answer 21

clinical features, lab results, person/time/place

Question 22

what does a case definition include? factor two

Answer 22

levels of the disease - confirmed, probable, possible

Question 23

define: confirmed, probable, possible

Answer 23

confirmed: lab results
probable: has symptoms but not lab results
possible

Question 24

describe what case finding involves

Answer 24

looking for people at risk of developing disease

and preventing them from developing disease

Question 25

step 5?

Answer 25

describe and orient the data

Question 26

common point source outbreak: describe and graph?

Answer 26

everyone is exposed at once.

so graph looks like a peak

Question 27

continuous extended source outbreak: describe and graph?

Answer 27

exposure exists for a long time. so graph has a plateau

Question 28

propagated/progressive outbreak: describe and graph.

Answer 28

one group is exposed and infected, they in turn infect more people and so on. grpah looks like a wave